Samuel Freeman: Avalon Professor in the Humanities

Dr. Samuel R. Freeman, a member of the philosophy department faculty, has been named the Avalon Professor in the Humanities. Dr. Freeman’s research interests include political and social philosophy, moral philosophy, philosophy of law, and history of ethics.

The author of two books—Justice and the Social Contract: Essays on Rawlsian Political Philosophy and Rawls—Dr. Freeman initiated and has been editor of Oxford University Press’s Political Philosophy Series since 2006. He is currently working on longer term projects on social contract theory and on globalism and economic justice.

Dr. Freeman received his juris doctor from the University of North Carolina and his doctorate in philosophy from Harvard University, joining the Penn faculty in 1985. He served as director of the Philosophy, Politics and Economics program at Penn from 1996 through 2004.

The Avalon Professorship in the Humanities was established in 1966 by the Avalon Foundation, now the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Arts & Sciences News

Om Gandhi, C’25, GEN’25, Awarded Rhodes Scholarship

At Oxford, Gandhi plans to pursue a DPhil in pediatrics with a focus in oncology, with an ultimate goal of attending medical school and practicing medicine as a physician-scientist.

View Article >
Squire Booker Named Richard Perry University Professor

Booker, a world-renowned chemist who will have appointments in the School of Arts & Sciences and the Perelman School of Medicine, begins his appointment on Jan. 1, 2025.

View Article >
Nicole Rust Named Simons Foundation Pivot Fellow

The program supports “researchers who have a strong track record of success and achievement in their current field, as well as a deep interest, curiosity and drive to make contributions to a new discipline.”

View Article >
Timothy Rommen Appointed Vice Provost for the Arts

The Davidson Kennedy Professor and Professor of Music and Africana Studies will begin the new appointment on Jan. 1.

View Article >
Vaughn A. Booker Named George E. Doty, Jr. and Lee Spelman Doty Presidential Associate Professor of Africana Studies

Booker is a historian of religion whose scholarship and teaching center on 20th-century African American religions.

View Article >
Patrick Walsh Named William Warren Rhodes-Robert J. Thompson Professor of Chemistry

Walsh works in the areas of catalysis, methods development, and reaction mechanisms.

View Article >